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Passap Duomatic 80

My name is Julie and I live in Lincolnshire, England. I used to be a
keen machine knitter about 20 years ago, using a Toyota 901 but since
then have been concentrating on hand knitting.

I have just discovered it is possible to buy a good second hand Duomatic
80 really very cheaply. This was the machine I always hankered after
back in my machine knitting days. The thing is, my memories of machine
knitting are now very hazy. I know the passap was very different from
the Japanese machines.

Could any Passap users out there give me the low-down on what to look
out for in my kit, like accessories I may need etc.

I'm so out of touch, has machine knitting become a dieing hobby? My local
newsagents don't stock machine knitting magazines anymore. It used to be so
popular in the 1980's but I can't find any machine knitters now. Am I just
looking in the wrong places?

There are still machine knitters around, but the
commercial boom is over. The companies kept coming out
with better and more expensive machines until they
saturated their market without really expanding it.
Silver-Reed is still in business, IIRC, and the Chinese
are making a basic mechanical machine - the Artisan. In
the U.S. Machine Knitter's Source is still published and
even has on-line editions. http://www.mksource.com/
There are some email lists and this newsgroup, as well.

There is a big business on eBay, selling machines, parts,
patterns, and gorgeous yarn, too.
--

I'm so out of touch, has machine knitting become a dieing hobby? My local
newsagents don't stock machine knitting magazines anymore. It used to be so
popular in the 1980's but I can't find any machine knitters now. Am I just
looking in the wrong places?

I think any of us that still knit are older knitters, but it is a dying
art. There used to be three thriving machine knitting clubs in my area
(East Sussex) but they no longer exist. I still have loads of yarn to
knit up and if I need anything special I buy direct from Bramwell yarns,
no one locally sells it any more. Such a pity, but I could never
interest my daughters in machine knitting. And of course the youngsters
aren't intersted in anything other than sweatshirts now, at least from a
certain age. I still find that small children like the sweaters and
cardigans I make. I will keep plodding on.